Prosecutors today declined to file charges against a Fontana police officer who shot and killed an unarmed drug dealer during a sting in Ontario.

Officer Keith Zagorin told investigators he ordered Enrique Castenada Isiordia to put his hands up eight or nine times, but the man continued reaching behind his back. Because Zagorin was standing in front of Isiordia’s vehicle with nothing shielding him and thought Isiordia had a gun, he feared he was about to be shot, prosecutors said.

“Corporal Zagorin was in fear for his life and in fear for the safety of the many nearby civilians at the time he shot the subject in what appeared to be the subject reaching for a gun,” the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office wrote in a report.

The sting took place March 13 outside an Albertson’s in Ontario, involving a confidential informant and someone who arranged to buy $1,000 in heroin.

Zagorin approached with his gun drawn after the sale was made. A man identified by police as a “middle man” told officers Isiordia reached behind him and “threw the bundle of heroin behind the driver’s seat toward the rear of the vehicle where the Middleman was sitting.”

That’s when Zagorin opened fire several times. The bullets blew through the windshield of the car, four striking Isiordia in the chest and abdomen, prosecutors said.

Police found the bundle of heroin on the floor in the back seat of the vehicle. Officers did not find a gun.

*** Correction, October 2 ***

The story in Wednesday’s edition, “Officer absolved in slaying” contained an error. The officer involved in the shooting was Officer Keith Zagorin, police said.